FN14 mRNA Expression Correlates with an Increased Number of Veinsduring Angiogenesis in the Process of Liver Fibrosis

In this study, we hypothesize that angiogenesis of special hepatic vessels such as sinusoidcapillaries or veins is closely associated with increasing production of connective tissue infibrogenesis. thirty-six male wistar rats were induced with hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liverusing thioacetamide. the number of sinusoidal capillaries, veins, arteries and the area ofconnective tissue were counted and determined. immunohistochemical study was performed onparaffin sections using monoclonal mouse anti-cd31. mrna expression was determined usingqpcr. we found a statistically significant reduction in the number of sinusoidal capillaries(p<0.0001) and an increase in the number of interlobular veins (p<0.0001) in the fibrosis andcirrhosis groups compared to the control group. there are no differences in the number ofinterlobular arteries (p=0.282) in the three groups. in our analysis, we found that the expression (mrna) of fn14 correlated with the number of veins in liver fibrosis (r=0.44, p=0.008). our datashows that modulation of veins angiogenesis during fibrosis in chronic liver diseases may playan important role in increasing pathological changes of the liver.